Anatomical Theatre

18th-century dissection theatre frescoed with allegorical scenes of medicine and death

The anatomical theatre within the old campus of the University of Pavia is one of the better-preserved of its kind in Italy. The tiered wooden seating surrounds the central dissection table on all sides, allowing maximum visibility for the student audience. The frescoed ceiling, painted to suggest that medicine operates at the border between earthly and spiritual realms, creates a striking contrast with the practical purpose of the room.

Access is usually by appointment or as part of university tours; enquire at the university information office on Corso Strada Nuova. The adjacent University History Museum is open more regularly and houses many of the anatomical specimens and instruments associated with the theatre's working history.

things to do sight museum
A story
The university's anatomical theatre was where public dissections were performed for medical students from the 18th century. The ceiling is painted with an allegorical fresco showing medicine confronting death, while the carved wooden banks of seats slope steeply down to the central table. Antonio Scarpa, the celebrated anatomist who worked here, is memorialised in a way typical of Pavia's dark wit: his severed head, preserved after his death in 1832, is displayed in a case in the history museum.

Other places in Things to Do